Lt. Cmdr. James Albrecht Vyskocil, U.S. Navy (Ret), 88, of Burlington, an exceptional individual, passed away on Oct. 2, 2009. James, known to many as “Mr. V,” was a 33-year Navy veteran and survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr. Vyskocil fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, enduring five sea battles and three aircraft crashes. He was also one of the founders of the Navy’s Retired Activities Program, and, in collaboration with Mr. Wally Funk of the Oak Harbor Navy League, founded the Women’s Sea Cadet Program in 1972.
The son of James and Minnie Vyskocil, he was born in 1921 in Havelock, Neb., now part of Lincoln. At the age of 16, Jim joined the Citizens’ Military Training Corps, an offshoot of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. He spent two years with that organization, training and working in his home state. Having acquired a taste for military life, upon graduation from high school, he enlisted in the United States Navy.
As a young Signalman, he was on duty at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard signal tower on Dec. 7. 1941. He watched in horror as enemy aircraft bombed Ford Island and ship after ship exploded into flames. He and his shipmates gave the first alert of the attack and remained on duty on the open platform, 90-foot tower until the next day, when they descended to recover bodies from the smoldering wreckage. He went on to see heavy combat in the Pacific Theater, surviving five sea battles.
In 1943 he attended flight school and joined the U.S. Navy’s lighter-than-air fleet. After the war, he was selected to be a member of Admiral Byrd’s 4th Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole. In 1952 he became an Air Traffic Controller, and three years later, as a Chief Petty Officer, was commissioned to the rank of Ensign. He attended the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif., and in 1961 took command of the Naval Air Intercept School there. In 1972, while serving at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station AIMD, Mr. Vyskocil retired from the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
His major sea assignments included the battleships USS New Mexico, Maryland and Pennsylvania; the cruisers USS San Francisco and Boise; destroyers USS Vesole and Borrie; auxiliaries USS Rigel, Dalton Victory and Argonne; and seaplane tender USS Currituck, on which he sailed to Antarctica. Aviation duty included ZP 31, 32, and 33, VR-8, VAAW-13, Barrier Pacific, and Search and Rescue Pacific, Pearl Harbor.
In the early 1970s, Mr. Vyskocil was the first Commanding Officer of the Golden Intruder Sea Cadet Squadron, and as such, successfully petitioned the late U.S. senators Jackson and Magnuson to change the federal law that prohibited young women from joining the Naval Sea Cadet program. That accomplished, he commanded the first female Sea Cadet squadron in the U.S., based at NAS Whidbey Island. In 1981 he established the Navy’s first Retired Affairs Office (now called Retired Activities Office) at NAS Whidbey Island. Staffed by volunteers, the office continues to help military retirees, their spouses and widows with benefits and services issues.
He loved to hunt and made many trips to Canada for elk and deer; he also loved to fish especially on the Snake River. Mr. Vyskocil was a life member of Whidby Island Masonic Lodge 15, Fidalgo 77, and Garfield 41; Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, S.J.; member of Nile Shrine Temple of Seattle; Disabled American Veterans Chapter 47; Past Patron, Eastern Star, Lei Lehua Chapter #6, Hawaii; Pearl Harbor Survivors Association North Cascades Chapter 5; the Elks; and Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). He was a beloved friend of Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church and “mascot” of the church choir.
A warm smile, congenial nature, enough stories to fill a book, and sincere concern for his fellow man – this was Jim Vyskocil, Mr. V., Uncle James A. He will be sorely missed.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Sally Anne Vyskocil, who made 22 moves with him during his naval career; his sisters Mary Vyskocil and Marjorie Glock; brothers Charles and Allan Vyskocil; and his parents James and Minnie Vyskocil.
He is survived by his wife of seven years, Gayle Vyskocil; nieces Gina Amey and Loree Vyskocil and her children James and Jenifer, for whom Uncle Jim was a surrogate father and grandfather; nieces Charyl Anne Glock-Jackson (Gary), Barbara Keeler (Craig) and Marjorie Hoffmann; and nephews James William Glock (Kathleen), Barry Vyskocil, and Robert Bruch (Nancy); many great-nieces and nephews; and stepsons Jared (Deb) and Kenneth (Anne) Burdin.
Visitation was held Oct. 9 at Evans Funeral Chapel in Anacortes. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at Maple Leaf Cemetery in Oak Harbor, followed by a memorial service at the Whidbey Presbyterian Church at 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, you may donate to The Salvation Army, Shriners’ children’s medical charities, or Skagit Hospice, who helped make Mr. V’s last days at home more comfortable. Arrangements are in the care of Evans Funeral Chapel & Crematory, Anacortes, and the San Juan Islands. To share memories of James, please sign the online guest register at www.evanschapel.com.
